Tree Farts Account for One-Fifth of the Greenhouse Gases, Will Worsen as Sea Level Rises

Cow farts, and most importantly burps, contribute a great deal to global warming. But how about tree farts? Although they are less known and are silent, scientists said that they also contribute to greenhouse gases that warm the planet.

Tree farts come from dead trees killed by rising sea levels and could sometimes be an overlooked source of carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and methane.

The number of dead trees and ghost forests that release tree farts are most likely to increase as sea levels continue to rise according to scientists.

How Bad Are Tree Farts?

Dead trees release gases, known as tree farts, that account for one-fifth of the greenhouse gases emitted by marshy forests along the coast of North Carolina, according to the study "Drivers of greenhouse gas emissions from standing dead trees in ghost forests" published in Biogeochemistry on May 10.

Science News reported that a team of ecologists were measuring tree farts in ghost forests, which are formed when seawater rises and poisons woodland leaving a marsh full of dead trees, to see how much they affected the climate.

Although it is unclear how much they affect or contribute to the carbon budget of Earth, having accurate accounting is crucial in getting a full picture of where greenhouse gases come from.

Coastal ecologist Keryn Gedan from George Washington University, who was not part of the study, said that the emergence of ghost forests is one the biggest changes happening in response to rising sea levels as woodlands are converted into wetlands, which would become a carbon sink over a long time.

In a short-term expectation, dead trees decay and will stop taking up carbon dioxide so it is likely to become a major greenhouse gas source.

Soils Gave Off Most Greenhouse Gases From Ghost Forests

The team measured tree farts released by dead trees and soils in five ghost forests on North Carolina's Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula. Despite the eerie atmosphere, North Carolina State University wetland ecologist Melinda Martinez said she is not afraid of ghost trees.

She was able to measure levels of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide emission using a portable gas analyzer toted on her back, making her look like a ghostbuster.

The news release of North Carolina State University reported that overall average emissions from soils were approximately four times higher than the average emissions from dead trees. Researchers said that although dead trees do not contribute as much carbon as soils, they still contribute significantly to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Additionally, the study lays the foundation for the ongoing work to understand the role dead trees are playing in carbon emissions, which is an area of future research that scientists are currently continuing to explore.

"We started off this research wondering: Are these snags straws or corks?" said study co-author and associate professor in forestry and environmental sciences Marcelo Ardón said in an interview with NCSU News.

"Are they facilitating the release from soils, or are they keeping the gases in? We think that they act as straws, but as a filtered straw. They change those gases, as the gases move through the snags," he added.